Organic materials have been proposed for many applications in electronics and opto-electronics due to their low cost and simple device fabrication processes. Many individual devices based on organic materials have been demonstrated in the past two decades.
Organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), which make use of thin films that emit light when excited by electric current, have become an increasingly recognized technology for applications such as flat panel displays. Popular OLED configurations include double heterostructure, single heterostructure, and single layer, as described in PCT Application WO 96/19792, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Recently, progress in OLED transistors, photovoltaic cells, and photodetectors has drawn considerable interest in the field of organic electronics. The use of organic materials in OLED transistors, photovoltaic cells and photodetectors is motivated by a number of advantageous properties. For example, in photodetection, the low index of refraction allows for the efficient coupling of light into devices, and typical optical absorption lengths of ˜500 Å allow for the realization of ultra-thin and high-bandwidth devices. These devices can be deposited on a variety of substrates including low-cost, flexible foils, thereby forming a basic building block for molecular organic photonic integrated circuits. Such devices may be used as an input device in an organic transistor circuit in widespread applications.